Donate Eyes-Give Sight! All ‘Eyes’ were Focused on ‘Eye Donation’ Awareness Walk/Run by SKOS
- “DUMP YOUR “I” BUT DON’T DUMP YOUR “EYE”! DONATE IT. ‘Useless to Dead, Priceless to Blind- Eyes are a precious gift to mankind! Citizens ‘Eyes’ were all Focused on the Awareness Walk/Run on ‘Eye Donation’ by South Kanara Ophthalmic Society {South Kanara Ophthalmic Society} on Sunday 2 September at 7 am to raise awareness about the donation of Eyes, and Give Sight to others!
Mangaluru: Citizens ‘Eyes’ were Focused on the Awareness Walk/Run on ‘Eye Donation’ by South Kanara Ophthalmic Society { SKOS}, which was organized today, 2 September, with a ‘5K Run and 2K Walk’ from Mangaluru City Corporation building, which culminated at Nehru Maiden, Mangaluru. “The eye is the window to the world, at the same time, it is the window of the soul “, had said Shakespeare. “Donate Eyes-Give Sight! National Eye Donation Campaign” at AJ Hospital and National Eye Donation Fortnight has being observed from August 25th and which will end on ‘National Eye Donation Day’ – September 8th 2017, as designated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. But to bring awareness on this issue South Kanara Ophthalmic Society members, it was nice to witness this Walk and Run, to bring a awareness on Eye Donation and make a difference, with the association of all ophthalmologists in and around Dakshina Kannada district, who are striving to achieve unity and excellence in the field of ophthalmology.
The society has been active and has been organizing a lot of academic sessions for promoting skill and excellence in the field of ophthalmic surgery. DUMP YOUR ” I ” BUT DON’T DUMP YOUR “EYE” ! DONATE IT. ‘Useless to Dead, Priceless to Blind- Eyes are a precious gift to mankind. A wise man utilizes the gift while alive, and after death too. Let Eye Donation be your family tradition. Eye Donation – a gift of beauty, a return to Eternity. One Eye Donation can make two blind people see. Let’s make Eye Donation a family tradition. Let Someone See The Beauty Through Your Eyes. Give The Gift Of Sight And See A Whole New Light. Let your eyes change someone’s life. Make someone’s future bright, donate your sight. So, Let’s donate eyes. Aapki aankhen duniya dekhen, aapke saathbhi, aapke baad bhi…!
With that attitude in mind, South Kanara Ophthalmic Society has been putting strenuous efforts and has been instrumental in bringing awareness on Eye Donation, to facilitate large-scale Cornea Grafting Surgeries. In India, there is an amazingly poor supply of donor’s eyes, and the ignorance on eye donation seems to be the main culprit apart from religious dogmas. In order to bring awareness of Eye Donation, South Kanara Ophthalmic Society has already begun the campaign from 25 August, and will culminate on 8 September, which is “National Eye Donation Day’.
As per Dr Sudhir Hegde, Professor and HOD Department of Ophthalmology; and President SKOS , and who has been with AJ Hospital/Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre since 2002, speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “35 million people are BLIND or going blind in the developing world and most of them can be cured. Out of 3 million Corneally blind people, 60% are children below the age of 12. Target retrieval of corneas by Eye bank of India is 150,000 corneas per year. So, if we have got God’s gift of Vision, why not try to pass it on to somebody who doesn’t have it? The number of people awaiting corneal transplant is outnumbering the available donor tissues. Corneal Transplantation is the only effective restoration for the replacement of human tissues in the eye. This is considered as a precious and possessed gift of sight for millions of people all over the world. Eye donation is an act of donating one’s eyes after his/her death”.
“Eye Donation means extraction of Cornea within six hours after death and to be used for Corneal grafting to corneal blind person. There will be no extraction of the entire eye-only cornea is extracted. Eyes can be donated with the consent of the relatives even though application regarding eye donation is not submitted. Age is not a constraint for eye donation, and all religions can give consent for eye donation. Eyes can be donated even after cataract surgery. Eye Donation is an act of charity, purely for the benefit of the society and is totally voluntary. It is done after death. So eye-donation should be encouraged on a large scale, as one of the best means of social service. To enable another person to obtain vision is one of the best forms of charity. Even after death, the donor lives in the eyes of the recipient. Eyes from a dead person can enable two blind people to acquire vision.” added Dr Hegde.
He further said, “There are currently an estimated 15 million blind people in India. 6.8 million of these suffer from corneal blindness with vision less than 6/60 in at least one eye, and of these, about 1 million have bilateral corneal blindness. If the present trend continues, it is expected that the number of Corneally blind individuals in India will increase to 10.6 million by 2020. Of these at least 3 million can be benefited by corneal transplantation. Thus, to effectively meet the ever-growing demand, we need around 150,000 corneal transplants to be performed every year. The clear and transparent tissue at the front of the eye is called cornea. This can be used to restore vision to persons with corneal blindness. The cornea is a focusing element of the eye. Vision is dramatically reduced, even lost, if the cornea becomes cloudy. This loss of vision is referred to as corneal blindness”.
When asked who can donate eyes and who can’t, Dr Hegde replied saying, “Eye donors could be of any age group or sex; People who use spectacles, diabetics, patients with high blood pressure, asthma patients and those without communicable diseases can donate eyes. Persons who cannot donate eyes are those with AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, Rabies, Septicemia, Acute leukaemia (Blood cancer), Tetanus, Cholera, and infectious diseases like Meningitis and Encephalitis cannot donate eyes.
Giving more facts about eye donation, Dr Hegde said, ” Eyes can be donated only after death, and they must be removed within 4 – 6 hours after death. Only a Registered Medical Practitioner can remove eyes from a deceased. The eye bank team will remove the eyes from the home of the deceased or from a hospital. Eye removal does not delay the funeral since the entire procedure takes 20-30 minutes only. A small quantity of blood will be drawn to rule out communicable diseases. Eye retrieval does not cause disfigurement. Earlier in the years, a few religions were reluctant towards donating of eyes, but later through awareness programmes and other modes of promotion on Eye Donation, many religious communities have opted for eye donation, which is a good sign to note”
Dr Hegde further said, “The identities of both the donor and the recipient are kept confidential. A few Important points are that To donate eyes, the relatives of the deceased should follow certain procedures like: Close the eyelids of the deceased; Switch off the fan; Raise the head of the deceased slightly by placing a pillow underneath; Contact the nearest eye bank as quickly as possible; Give the correct address with specific landmarks and telephone number to enable the eye bank team locate the place easily; If the death certificate from the physician is available, keep it ready; Eye donation can be done only with the written consent of the next of kin in the presence of two witnesses. An eye bank is a charitable organization without any profit motive. It facilitates the removal, processing and evaluation of eyes and distributes them to persons in need of an eye transplant. By donating Eyes it shows your responsibility to society as a caring, committed citizen.”
He concluded by saying, “Your attitude makes a world of difference…..Your decision offers a vision of hope, by pledging your eyes and those of the members of your family; by being a member of the eye donation association; by calling the nearest eye bank immediately when a death occurs in the family; and by giving the correct address with specific landmarks and a telephone number to enable the eye bank team to locate the place easily. Donate eyes and give someone the gift of sight…..Say Yes to Eye Donation! “
SKOS which is observing ‘ the eye donation awareness fortnight ‘ and as a part of this programme, held the MRPL gift of sight 5K Run and 2K walk on Sunday 2nd September 2018. While being a lazy Sunday while both the young still remain hugged to their pillows in bed, but a large number of like-minded citizens of Mangaluru gathered to show support to this Eye Donation campaign, for the awareness Run and Walk. The Run and Walk started from Mangalore City Corporation front side and culminated at Nehru Maidan. It’s nice to note that that the society has been supported in this event by MRPL, Rotary International, Mangalore Round Table, Samvitti Capital, Bharat Motors, Abharan Jewellers, Marian Builders and Zeusse gym. The society involved all medical colleges in Dakshina Kannada district and aimed at strengthening the eye bank network in DK district. The society has also launched a unique awareness mobile led wall mounted vehicle, which will travel all over DK district during the specified time and will play videos about eye donation and it’s a necessity.
The MRPL gift of sight 5K run and 2K walk was flagged off at 8.00 am on 2 September from MCC building by Harish Baliga, Head, CSR, MRPL, in the presence of Dr Sudhir Hegde, president of SKOS; Dr Sai Giridhar Kamath- president, Karnataka Ophthalmic Society; Naveen Cardoza, MD of Marian Developers, Prabhakar Kudva of Samvitti Capital and Sudhir Pai of Bharath Auto Cars. The 2K Walk and 5K Run which commenced from MCC building took different routes, but both culminated at Nehru Maidan. Addressing the crowd after the completion of the Run and Walk, Dr Sudhir Hegde said, “Our is an Association of all ophthalmologists in and around Dakshina Kannada District. We at SKOS strive to achieve unity and excellence in the field of Ophthalmology. The society has been active and has been organizing a lot of academic sessions for promoting skill and excellence in the field of ophthalmic surgery. The society had observed this ‘Eye Donation Awareness Fortnight’ from 25th August to 8th September 2018”
“To reduce this burden, we have to raise the target for the number of eye donations in the country to arrange and organize for donor corneas. The only way to increase the number of eye donation is by creating awareness among the general public to donate eyes and give the gift of sight to two deserving corneal blind people. Our initiative was to create awareness and educate people about the facts about eye donation and debunk all the myths regarding the same. I am really overwhelmed by the support rendered by all the participants in the Run and Walk, and also the sponsors who supported us in bringing a difference” added Dr Sudhir Hegde.
Chief Guest Harish Baliga appreciating the efforts put in by SKOS said, ” It is indeed a great initiative taken by the SKOS in raising awareness in donating eyes, to provide sight to those who need it. When your eyes become of no use after death, isn’t it nice to donate it to someone who is blind and has been waiting for the opportunity to receive sight through your generous donation? To reduce the burden of blindness in India, we have to raise the target for the number of eye donations in the country to arrange and organize for donor corneas. The only way to increase the number of eye donation is creating awareness among the general public to donate eyes and give the gift of sight to two deserving corneal blind people. It should be our initiative, just like SKOS to create awareness and educate people about the facts about eye donation and debunk all the myths regarding the same. Myself and MRPL feel proud to be associated with such a project aimed at a good cause”.
The winners in the Men 5K Run are- 1st Sourabh Patil, 2nd-Gaurav Ramavath, and 3rd- Chethan K; In 5K Women-1st-Dr Sahana D Acharya, Dr Anupama Rao, and 3rd Parul Patel; A special recognition prize was given to 7-year-old Subramanya for completing the 5K run- indeed a great achievement for this young lad! All the winners received gift cards to Zuesse Fitness Centre. There were 226 participants in the 5K Run, and 155 in the 2K Walk. And God being nice to the Ophthalmologists, he had blessed this Sunday with a sunny weather rather than a wet rainy morning- and due to this, the event went on successfully with tremendous response. Team Mangalorean feels proud to be associated with SKOS in such projects aimed for a good cause. Long live SKOS. The welcome address for the valedictory function was delivered by Dr Sudhir Hegde, the vote of thanks being proposed by Dr Ajay A Kudav- Secretary of SKOS and the compere for the event was Akansha Singh of HES, Nitte, and main man to coordinate among the media personnel was “Everyone’s Favorite Person “Shivaprasad Shetty, the media coordinator, and Manager of the Marketing Department at AJ Hospital.
In conclusion, the core objective of the Eye Donation campaign is to promote the eye donation process as well as to put forth the significant message to the people for being the special part of eye donation or eye pledging for giving a normal life to the common public. Donation of eyes is otherwise service to God and an expression of gratefulness to him. Behold the speculate of the eyes of the deceased living magnificently in the recipient’s body although the body of the deceased itself is no more. Eye donation is divinity and nobility exemplified in one. Pass on the lives of your lost dear ones by rendering their eyes to the blind. Let each one of us become a ‘living lamp’ dispelling darkness and ushering light and joy to the blind in millions. Please donate eyes and give sight”.
So anyone wants to donate their eyes or need more information can call Dr Ajay Kudva, Secretary of SKOS at 98807 25980 or E-Mail: skosmlr@gmail.com
